Each day during the Winter Games, THE DAILY offers our take on the business performances of some of the people, sponsors, broadcasters and other entities around Sochi.
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GOLD: USA HOUSE -- IN THE USA -- Partly to fend off travel issues to Sochi, the USOC smartly re-created its USA House concept in the U.S., offering mini, one-night-only USA House events in the U.S., beginning Friday in L.A. Good thinking to make an already successful program available to more sponsor employees and their guests.
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SILVER: LONDON 2012 -- Yeah, yeah, yeah -- the London Games are in the rearview mirror. But as the Sochi Games prepare to open, pleasant memories from a successful, safe and surprisingly low-key Olympics are still fresh in the minds of fans and Olympic partners.
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BRONZE: NEW SPORTS, NEW ENTHUSIASM -- The IOC has taken some heat for its Summer Olympic program decisions, but the new additions to the winter program seem to be on the money in terms of trying to attract more women and younger viewers. Disciplines like slopestyle for both skiing and snowboarding, as well as ski halfpipe and team events for figure skating, biathlon and luge, should add excitement and hit new demographics for the Games.
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TIN: VLADIMIR PUTIN -- Where do we start? Spending $51B on the Games when your economy is stagnant at best, arresting protesters for "swearing in public," the whole anti-gay law fiasco, riding horseback with your shirt off -- so many things to rail against, so little space.
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